Little light in the Brexit stalemate

After day of volleys over DUP’s deal ‘snub’, Government seeks to move things forward with conciliatory tone

THE Government is open to the ‘possibility’ of some political language being inserted into a border declaration that could move Brexit talks on to phase two. The Taoiseach’s spokesman said a political reference had not been offered or sought, but it could be considered if wanted on the union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

A reference to Good Friday Agreement’s principle of consent, which states that the North will remain part of the UK until a majority of its citizens say otherwise, could ease unionist fears about the constitutional position post-Brexit.

The conciliatory tone came after DUP leader Arlene Foster condemned an ‘aggressive’ attitude from Dublin. She also accused Dublin of blocking her party from viewing vital wording on a Brexit deal. But a spokesman for Leo Varadkar categorically denied this version of events.

‘The Irish Government had no role whatsoever in the negotiations conducted by the British Government,’ he declared. ‘It therefore had no involvement in any decision on which documents should go to the DUP. It is a categorical denial.’

Asked if Ireland would now seek clarification from the British side as to why it had told an untruth to the DUP, he demurred – but said it would ‘almost certainly’ come up with Michel Barnier’s task force representing the EU/Ireland side.

Meanwhile the Taoiseach insisted that the negotiations did not involve political parties, but were between a sovereign Government and the EU, including Ireland.

‘The ball is very much in London’s court,’ he told the Dáil yesterday.

Mr Varadkar added: ‘The prime minister [Theresa May], the European Commission and the negotiating teams have asked for more time. There is time to put the agreement back on track.’

His spokesman said last night that there had been ‘contacts at official level’ between London and Dublin yesterday. The Government’s position was to give No.10 time and space, he added.

Mr Varadkar pledged that the Government would ‘work constructively’ to come to an agreement but would not be changing its position on a hard border, welcoming the backing of other parties in Dáil Éireann.

DUP leader Ms Foster used TV interviews with Sky News and RTÉ to get across her version of events yesterday. She said: ‘We were in discussions with the Conservative Party right throughout, and we’d asked for the text on a number of occasions to be told that there was no text on that occasion.

‘We spoke on Sunday evening, didn’t have text, and the text landed with us late on Monday morning. That left us in a very difficult position. We had to look at the text, we had to try to understand what the ramifications of the text was.

‘When we had a chance to do that we realised that in no way could we sign up to that text, because it was essentially making a red line down the Irish Sea.’

The Government here was never approached for the text by the DUP, and it was never told whether or not the DUP was on board, the Taoiseach’s spokesman said.

Ms Foster said she reiterated to Theresa May in a phone call to her Brussels lunch with Jean-Claude Juncker that ‘there must be no borders between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom’.

She repeatedly stressed the political element, whereas the border text talks in economic terms – leaving the ‘possibility’ of progress if language encompassing both elements can be agreed. ‘I am very pleased to see the support we have received right across the House of Commons, support from Scotland, and I even had a telephone call today from the chief minister of Gibraltar,’ Ms Foster said.

‘There is widespread agreement that we cannot break up the United Kingdom in order to satisfy an Irish Government that will not take the bona fides of a statement from our own Prime Minister that nobody wants to see a hard border in Ireland.’

Asked why the DUP was propping up a Government that didn’t appear to trust it enough to share a vital document, Ms Foster made her charge that the Irish Government was to blame. ‘There have been reasons given to us as to why we didn’t receive the text – and one of the reasons apparently is that the Irish Government wouldn’t allow them to share that text, and in many ways I can understand that.’

On the Taoiseach’s position that the meaning of the agreed text could not change, she added: ‘The Irish Prime Minister can be as unequivocal as he likes. We are also unequivocal in these matters. This is no surprise to anyone that I am a unionist and I want to see the retention of the union for political reasons but also for economic reasons as well.

‘Our biggest market is with Great Britain – 72% of the goods that leave Belfast port go to Great in Britain.

‘Why in heaven’s name would I cut off that market just to see a small market in the Republic of Ireland?’

She insisted however: ‘We want to see progress. We don’t want to see a hard border.’

‘We want to see progress’